The Right 30-minute
Cookbook
As I stand in the grocery store checkout each week, I see the tempting
displays of cookbooks and magazines that promise life-altering 30-minute
recipes that will allow me to have my career and feed my family satisfying
meals. I'm convinced that if I just buy the right one, I will be cooking meals every
day from fresh ingredients that will have us all be healthier and wealthier in
no time.
Here are some of the cookbooks I have amassed that I'm hopeful will one
day deliver on the promise to cook meals in minutes and give me a new lease on
life. (So far, I haven't seen the results.)
The Right Lotion
When I watch TV or read magazines I am always drawn in by lotion ads.
Surely, if I buy the latest lotion my skin will be smoother; I will look
healthier; and I will have a youthful appearance that will have high-paying
employers clamouring to offer me jobs that I will turn down, because my
cookbooks and lotions will have enabled me to be independently wealthy.
I don't bother with makeup on a daily basis and I'm so lazy I barely convince myself to floss each day, but I'm convinced there is some magical lotion product that will be so satisfying and easy to apply that I will want to use it every minute of every day. Some of the products I've tried have come close to the perfection I seek.
- Oil of Olay makes some great daily face lotions with a hint of
foundation and sunscreen (can't go wrong with the right SPF). What's not
to love about a lotion that reduces wrinkles, acts as foundation, and
serves as sunscreen in one quick application?
- Aveeno lotions have an oatmeal base which makes the product smell
yummy and sound healthy.
- Bath and Body Works sells some amazing lotions, but they have a
mine-field of scents that must be carefully navigated.
- The Body Shop offers many appealing lotions that are perfectly scented
and displayed in ways that make me want to buy one of everything in the
store.
Recently, I was fortunate to receive a Body Shop gift card from some
generous friends. I thought carefully about what to do with this gift and came
up with the following options:
- I could savour it and keep it until Christmas and treat myself to
some wonderful Christmassy lotion that would make me feel festive.
- Or, I could use it to buy some useful implements of torture to use
for the perfect at-home pedicure.
- Or, I could use it to buy one product at a time to slowly dissipate
the card as I run out of lotion and need more.
Did I go with any of those options? No, of course not! I went running to the Body Shop after work today and spent the entire gift card in one sitting and bought myself all these products.
Yay!
I love that the Body Shop lets you stack up the discounts. Today I scored
50% off gift baskets, used a $10 off coupon, layered on a loyalty club
discount, and I received a free gift. All that combined has me coming home with
a crazy amount of stuff. Good value for the dollar.
Look out world - the newly transformed me is clearly just a lotion away!
(If any of you are spending time with
me in the next year, let me know what scent you prefer. With some advance
notice I can show up smelling like strawberry, lemon, mango, cherry blossom,
shea butter, brazil nut or peppermint.)
I totally agree about the cookbooks! There is no such thing as a 30 minute meal, unless it comes from a menu. :)
ReplyDeleteIn fairness to the cookbooks, I do have to at least crack the cover in order to make the recipes. Only one of those four books has ever been used.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it is far more satisfying to open a bottle of lotion than one of those cookbooks. Love the peppermint foot scrub.